Holy Esque at Soup Kitchen review

Image: Holy Esque 

Fighting depression, rejection and everything in between are Glasgow’s Rough Trade rockers Holy Esque, who after five years of grit determination and bloody fingers released their debut album earlier this year.

The band described At Hope's Ravine as an album that “represents everything we have been through and everything that is yet to come”.

It's clear things haven’t been straightforward. Holy Esque certainly aren't your run of the mill indie band, you don’t feel they've waltzed into the scene through a lucky break and their back breaking UK tour is testament to the lengths they will travel to get their music heard.

Soup Kitchen provided the intimate surroundings for the bands visit to Manchester and the four piece had no trouble filling the room with atmospheric, jangling guitars and lingering bass tones.

The unusual yet immediate synth hook of ‘Rose’ made an instant impression on the crowd, who lead singer Pat Hynes invited forward to catch the whites of their eyes.

Despite life on the road, all four members were immaculately groomed; all neat beards and sharp haircuts and they cut a clean figure inside the grungy basement of Soup Kitchen.

What seemed to sit right however was Pat Hynes longing Glaswegian growl, delivered with a precise aggression as he stalked around his microphone.

It certainly elevated the band’s gritty sound and in a live environment it made Holy Esque a powerful force. Closing track 'My Wilderness' was a perfect example of this with the lead vocals and guitar melodies entwining into a creeping verse before building to an explosive chorus with lyrics drenched in desperation.

The audience’s stunned silence was certainly not down to a lack of appreciation, but the witnessing of such a musical force in such compact surroundings.

In a bigger venue to a more responsive crowd a gig like this would have been a hectic affair and if Holy Esque are willing to wait just that bit longer, they’ll be sweating as much on-stage as they have been off it.

Read Band of the week: Holy Esque